Danielle Hayden

A Kirkby man who had his operation cancelled twice by King’s Mill Hospital has told Chad that he was left in ‘unimaginable pain’.

Anton Lancashire (58), of Pinewood Close, went into King’s Mill Hospital on Wednesday (15th July) for an operation to have kidney stones removed.

Within a few hours of arriving, he was dressed and ready for the operation, only to be told five hours later by a consultant that they were unable to proceed and he should return the next day.

But when arriving at the hospital the following morning (16th July), he waited for more than four hours to be told that no surgeons were available to carry out the operation.

Anton said: “I was sat there from 7am on the Wednesday until 6:30pm at night with nothing to eat and nothing to drink.

“I’m very angry and it’s frustrating really to be told your operation has been cancelled again.

“I don’t think they realise what they are putting folks through.”

He was then left reliant on morphine to ease his pain.

His wife, Elaine, added: “I could have cried for my husband when the last operation was cancelled. All the upset has been very distressing for the whole of our family and we are due to go abroad for the first time ever on a family holiday in September and we are hoping that Anton would be well enough.”

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero has now taken up his case and is calling for the health secretary and bosses at the hospital to reduce the number of cancellations.

And after an investigation, Mr Lancashire’s appointment is now on Monday 10th August.

Gloria, who visited Anton on Friday (24th July), said: “I don’t think anyone should have to go through what Mr Lancashire has gone through.

“To repeatedly get your hopes up only to have them dashed when your operation is cancelled at the last minute is not good enough.

“I’m glad that he’s now got a new date and the only circumstances I want to see this changed is if we are successful in getting it brought forward.”

Sue Barnett, chief operating officer at Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH) NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are sorry to hear about the experience Mr Lancashire received at King’s Mill Hospital and we apologise for any inconvenience and distress this has caused.

“On occasion, planned surgery may need to be cancelled because some procedures may take longer than anticipated because of a change in the patient’s condition.

“We are fully investigating Mr Lancashire’s case. Once the investigation is complete we will share our findings with Mr Lancashire and any lessons to be learnt about communication or organisation of our operating services.”

She added that cancellations do not meet their high standards and that the hospital aspires to eventually have none.

“We can confirm Mr Lancashire has been invited back for his surgery.”

This case comes after a rising number of cancellations both locally and nationally.

Recent NHS figures show that in 2014/15, 305 operations were cancelled for non-clinical reasons at SFH NHS Foundation Trust which runs King’s Mill.

This is 14 per cent more than in the previous year.

Gloria added: “The growing number of cancelled operations is a problem all of the government’s own making.

“Operations are having to be cancelled to free up beds as A&E units become overcrowded because of patients losing their right to see a GP within 48 hours and hundreds of thousands of mainly older people having lost social care support due to Whitehall cuts. Hospitals are full to bursting, with record numbers in A&E departments, and it is clearly dragging down the rest of the NHS.